Should I Buy Life Insurance In This Economy?

By: Wayne Earp
Since the value of life insurance doesn't really kick in until you're dead, the only people who really need it are breadwinners, or people have others depending on them for support, like parents or adult children supporting elderly parents. The problem, however, is that too many breadwinners go on without any form of coverage.
According to LIMRA, an industry-supported research group, recently, thirty percent (30%) of households in the United States don't have any form of coverage at all. Six years ago, the number of households without any coverage was lower at 22%.
Sadly, among those without any insurance are 11 million families with children under 18 years old. Only 4 out of 10 American households bought a policy outside any workplace coverage.

Tight Budget Is No Excuse
A tight budget is one reason why a lot people go without. Most people have other priorities for a limited income, including retirement savings or debt repayment. However, people with dependents are putting their family at risk, because unless their family members have other assets to rely on, the death of the main income earner takes a significant toll on survivors.
So, even in this economy, if you have children or other people depending on you, having life coverage is a must. Other than that however, the cost of life coverage have dropped significantly.
In the early 1990s, if you were a a 40-year-old man in perfect health, you would have to pay an annual premium of $995 for a 20-year term policy with $500,000 coverage. Today, the cost is only $360 a year for the same amount of benefit.
With that said, carefully weigh the pros and the cons of getting life insurance.

0 comments:

Post a Comment